Username Password  
  Forgot your password?  
ItalianoEnglish
 
  COME VEDERE L'ARCHITETTURA CONTEMPORANEA HOW TO SEE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
COME VEDERE L'ARCHITETTURA CONTEMPORANEA HOW TO SEE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
HOME
ARCHITECT | LOCATION | TYPOLOGY | EXHIBITIONS | ADVANCED SEARCH

BUILDING
 
 
MBAM | Pavillon d’art québécois et canadien Claire et Marc Bourgie
MMFA | Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian Art
Top
DESIGNER
 
 
Provencher_Roy
Top
DESCRIPTION
 
A Canadian Museum in a Church
Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art MontrealWith construction of the new Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian Art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the architects at Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes have achieved a remarkable conversion of a heritage church. At a time when conservation of the religious patrimony is a challenge all over the world, this architectural intervention is an exemplary model of the genre. Its excellence has been acknowledged by the 2010 Canadian Architect Awards of Merit, the Grand Prix du design 2011, and the Prix d’excellence 2011 from the Institut de développement urbain du Québec, which, upon presentation of its award, congratulated Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes for “its thorough architectural reflection with regard to this project, its exceptional urban integration, and its design, which brings past and future together.” In 2012, the pavilion received the Award for Architectural Integration of Montreal Architectural Heritage Campains.

Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art MontrealBeside the restored former Erskine and American Church, transformed into a 444-seat concert hall, the rear annex has been completely reconstructed in contemporary style to form the new art pavilion. “The project was complex because it entailed designing a building capable of featuring the Quebec and Canadian art collections while establishing a dialogue with the church, with the museum’s other pavilions, and with the city,” explained Claude Provencher, founding partner of Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes.
Restoration of the Erskine and American Church
Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art MontrealBuilt in the late nineteenth century in the massive neo-Roman style of the Trinity Church in Boston, the Erskine and American Church is an important patrimonial landmark, not only for its architecture but also for its history and its contribution to Montreal’s urban landscape. Evidence of the rise to power of the city’s Scottish Protestant élite and an era when the “Golden Square Mile” was home to 70% of Canadian wealth, this building, made of limestone with insertions of Miramichi sandstone, has an original textured façade and a Byzantine-style dome testifying to the city’s architectural richness. In addition, the 20 Tiffany stained-glass windows gracing the lateral façades form the largest collection of its type in Canada.

Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art MontrealRespecting the recommendations made by Jean-Claude Marsan (member of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada and director of the conservation of the built environment program at the School of Architecture of the Université de Montréal), the architects of Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes meticulously restored the church’s envelope. Some parts that were too badly damaged were completely resculpted. The 146 stained-glass windows (including the 20 Tiffany windows) were removed, restored, and reinstalled behind glass panels that make the building watertight. Inside, the plaster ceiling and the mouldings were completely restored, as were the woodwork pieces adorning the nave.
Architectural dialogues
Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art MontrealWith its restraint and permeability, the new Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian Art establishes a natural dialogue with the city. From every level, the glazed openings offer a view of the city and, at the building’s foot, the museum’s sculpture garden, a linear exhibition of works of public art bordering the museum. In addition, the glassed-in atrium at the top of the pavilion offers a strong visual link with Mount Royal, an emblematic element of Montreal’s identity.

Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art MontrealAnother dialogue is established with the church. The new pavilion shares more than its entrance and reception areas with the former religious building. It also evokes its spirit both by its elevation, extended by an opening to the sky, and by the presence of subtly designed alcoves around the galleries.

To complete the integration of pavilion with its surroundings, the architects linked it to the museum’s other pavilions, both physically and metaphorically. First, the basement entrance is connected to the museum’s underground network through a corridor underneath Sherbrooke Street and connects to the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion. This 45-metre passageway becomes a space for introduction to the new pavilion as it contains monumental works by Quebec artists, such as Riopelle’s Ice Canoe. Aside from this physical link, the Bourgie Pavilion is symbolically integrated with the museum complex through a reinterpretation of the white marble used for the façades of the 1912 Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion and the 1991 Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion. The architects clad the new pavilion with a wall of marble from the same Vermont quarry as that of its two predecessors, reproducing the image of the material in its original state, with the design of veins running along the façade. “We wanted to give the feeling that the galleries had been sculpted from a gigantic four-storey-high block of marble,” recalls Matthieu Geoffrion, project manager for the Bourgie Pavilion.
.
Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art Montreal
Architecture at the service of the arts
Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art MontrealAs Claude Provencher notes, “A successful museum is a space that invites visitors to a sensory experience that can transport them to an unexplored universe.” The architects therefore decided to create a crescendo of experiences from the basement to the fourth floor of the new pavilion. To start this experiential ascent, the designers excavated under the church’s floor to create an entrance for the pavilion and service areas (ticket office, coatroom, restrooms, and so on). Behind, five levels offer a chronological scenario, from the colonial era and the galleries for nineteenth-century art to the period of the Refus global and its heritage, as well as Inuit art. As visitors travel through time and rise physically in the building, the natural light becomes more intense, reaching a climax with the panoramic glassed-in atrium on the top floor.

Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art MontrealThe central stairway, providing a link between the chiaroscuro of the basement and illumination at the top of the building, allows for this crescendo of light (despite the moderated lighting that is required in most of the galleries for conservation of the artworks) with progressively larger and larger visual openings to the exterior. On the third level, a bay window gives onto an outdoor terrace that features the new work by Dominique Blain. Aside from its emphasis on light, the glassed-in atrium on the top floor has a figurative value. Its shape, evoking an ice structure inspired by an igloo, establishes a symbolic link with the Inuit works that are on display below.
.
Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art Montreal
Record attendance OR Number of visitors rises
Provencer Roy Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art MontrealAttesting to the loyalty of a constantly expanding public, the number of visitors to the “reinvented museum” has reached historically unprecedented peaks, with growth of 36% in one year. This spectacular rise makes the museum the most visited in Quebec and the second-most visited in Canada, after Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum.
Top
MATERIALS
 
marble, steel, glass, reinforced concrete
Top
LOCATION
 
Continent
North America
Nation
Canada
Province
Québec
Region
Montreal
Town
Montreal
Address
Avenue du Musée, Rue de Sherbrook O [Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal]
 
 
Website
Top
MAP
 
 
Top
TYPOLOGY
 
ARCHITECTURE
Museums and buildings for exhibitions
Art museums
Buildings for recreational activities
Auditoriums and music centres
Theatres
Operations on existing buildings
Renovation, rehabilitation and restructuring
Extension, superelevation
Reconversion
Top
CHRONOLOGY
 
Project
2006    
Realisation
2006 - 2011
Top
AWARDS
 
2014
Prix d'architecture urbaine / Prix nationaux de design urbain 2014
IRAC, Architecture Canada, Institut canadien des urbanistes et Association des architectes paysagistes du Canad
2013
Award of Excellence
catégorie Retrofit / Historic Preservation Project
Ontario Association of Architects
2012
Projet de l'année
Hardsurface Awards

Association Canadienne de Terrazzo
Tuile et Marbre
2012
Prix d'architecture
catégorie pierres naturelles
Hardsurface Awards
Association Canadienne de Terrazzo
Tuile et Marbre
2011
Projet de l'année
Grands Prix du Design 2011
2011
Prix d'architecture
catégorie lieu public et institutionnel
Grands Prix du Design 2011
2011
Prix d'excellence
catégorie Immobilier commercial
Institut de Développement Urbain
2010
Awards of Merit
Canadian Architect Magazine
Top
CLIENT
 
 
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal
Top
DIMENSIONAL
DATA
 
Surface
sq.m. 5,483
Top
STRUCTURES
 
 
Nicolet Chartrand Knoll ltée
Top
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
 
 
Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes
Top
STAFF
 
Project
Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes
Project architect
Claude Provencher
Partner responsible
Matthieu Geoffrion, Eugenio Carelli
Collaborators
Jean-Luc Rémy
Systems
Enerpro / Le Groupe Conseil Berman inc.
Street furniture
Jardin des sculptures: Ville de Montréal
Acoustical consultant
Legault & Davidson
Artistic and multimedia installations
GO multimédia
Plastic models, rendering, visualization
Denis Gamache
Restorations
DFS Architecture + Design
Gestione del progetto
Gesvel inc.
Contractor
Pomerleau inc.
Top
CREDITS
 
 
Photos © Marc Cramer, Tom Arban, Jean-Guy Lambert
Drawings © Provencher Roy
Text edited by v2com
Courtesy by v2com

Provencer Roy Claire nd Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian art Montreal



If you haven't already clicked on the photo strip at the top of the page, for the gallery of photos [22 images] and drawings [5 images], enter here
 
 
Contacts    Copyright © 2004 - 2024 MONOSTUDIO | ARCHITECTOUR.NET
 
| Disclaimer | Conditions of use | Credits |
 
       
?>